Machine for capping jars



June 9, 1925.

A. PQTDEVIN MACHINE FOR CAPPING JARS Filed July 28, 1921 e r 0 OJ 2% & 0 3 W fl a: w

Patented June 9, 1925.

UETED' STATE PATENT @FFICEZ.

ADOLPI-I POTDEVIN, OF BROOKLYN, NE'W YORK, ASSIGNOR T POTDEVI'N MACHINE COMPANY, OF NEW'YQRK N. Y.,

A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOB GAPPING JARS.

Application filed July 28, 1921. Serial No. 488,160.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADOLPH PoTDnvIN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the connty of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Capping Jars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines wherein spinning rollers are employed for rimming, bending or seaming circular elements; having reference especially, though not exclusively, to machines, such as jar capping machines, whereby the depending circular flange or band of a sheet metal element, such as a cap, is bent or rimmed into locking relation with an annular shoulder on a contiguous body, such, for example, as the neck of a jar or other container.

An object of my invention is to provide a machine having spinning rollers or dies which are actuated by centrifugal force during their effective operation, thereby automatically adapting themselves to and compensating for imperfections in the form or structure of the element or elements being acted upon.

Vith this object in view my invention comprises various novel features of construction and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a jar cap-- ping machine embodying a preferred form of my invention; showing the spinning mechanism in raised position immediately following the sealing of a jar.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine.

Fig. 8 is atransverse section on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a partial side elevation of the machine, showing the spinning mechanism in operative relation to the cap of a ar.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section through the spinning mechanism and adjuncts when in the relative positions shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a similar section through the said mechanism and adjuncts when in the relative positions shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section, enlarged, as on the line 7-7 of Fig. 1, the jar being removed.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates a v l hav ng a it bly disposed bearings 11 for a power-driven shaft 12. In the present instance this shaft is driven from a conveniently. located electric motor 13 through a belt 14% which is flexed about pulleys 15, 16 on the motor shaft and the shaft 12, respectively.

17 designates a table which, in the present instance, is designed to support a jar, 18', or other vessel to be capped. This table is supported by a depending rod 19 which extends through a bearing in an arm 20 projecting forwardly from the pedestal. The rod is conveniently held in place on the arm by means of a set-screw 21 so as to be capable of vertical adjustment to raise or lower the table, as desired. On the table is bolted a centering device by means of which the vessel can be. accuratelypositioned on the table to ensure the axial alinement of the cap 22 with the overhanging clamping head 23 of the spinning mechanism. This centering device, in the preferred construction, comprises an upstanding body 24 having'upper and lower pairs of forwardly-extending beveled jaw blocks 25 between which the vessel is positioned on the table. These blocks are provided with forwardly-extending spring arms 26 adapted yieldingly to embrace and grip the vessel, which arms are respectively clamped between the split ends of the blocks. The blocks are slidably fitted to horizontal guideways 27 in the body, the backs of the ways being slotted, as at 28, for the passage of set-screws 29 whereby the blocks are adjustably and detachably secured in place. By loosening the screws, the blocks and arms of each pair can be adjusted toward or from each other as the diameter of the vessel may require; and then by tightening the screws the blocks can be secured in the position of adjustment. The body is preferably provided with a multiplicity of parallel slotted guide-ways 27 in order that the upper and lower blockswith their spring arms can be arranged at various distances apartvert1- cally as the height of the vessel may require.

. The clamping head 23, which is vertically movable toward and from the cap, is circumferentially flanged to encircle the top of the cap when the head is lowered. The head is detachably secured to the foot of a vertical sleeve 30 which is fixed in a vertically-movable carriage. In the present inan e th e is secured. in. P a e by a Cil rod 31 extending axially through the sleeve, the lower end of the rod being screw-threaded and engaged with a tapped central orifice win the head and the upper end of the rod being equipped with ahand-wheel 32 whereby the rod can be conveniently manipulated in order to lock or release the head, as desired.

The carriage comp-rises a body 33 having a vertical guide-way which is slidably fitted to a vertical guide 34- on the front of the pedestal, and having also two forwardly spaced arms 34; the lower of which is provided with a bearing for a vertical tubular shaft 35 which encircles a substantial part of the sleeve 30, and the upper of which arms is provided with a support for the ad jacent end of the sleeve 30. Fast on the shaft 35 is an elongated pulley 36 about which passes a belt 37 which is flexed about two spaced-apart pulleys 38, rearward of the pedestal, and about a pulley 39 on the drive shaft 12. Thus motion is continuously transmitted from the latter shaft to the shaft 35 irrespective of the position of vertical adjustment of the carriage and its appurtenances.

Formed on or otherwise fixed to the lower end of the. shaft 35, so as to be rotatable therewith, is a disk or head 40 between which and the foot of the sleeve are preferably interposed anti-friction balls or rollers tl. This disk is provided with two oppositelyd'isposed radial slots 42 through which extend the upper arms of a pair of levers as which are fulcrumed, as at 4:4, in brackets L5 on the underside of the disk. The upper extremities of the arms are weighted, as at 4:6, and the lower arms of the levers are provided with rotatable spinning rollers 47; the relation of the parts being such that when the clamping head 23 is lowered upon the top of the cap, and the levers 43 and their rollers 4L7 are rapidly revolved through the rotation of the disk, such rollers, due to the centrifugal force of the weighted upper arms of the levers, are caused to swing inward and bear against the lower depending edge of the cap in a manner to rim or crimp such edge effectually against the shouldered neck of the jar or other vessel to which the cap is applied. Hence the rollers automatically adapt themselves to and compensate for iniperfections in the form or structure of the cap or of the neck of the vessel.

On the shaft 35, immediately below the body of the carriage, is a member 48 through which the shaft freely extends. This memher is supported bya yoke-lever 49 which is fulcrumed to a depending lug 50 on the carriage so as to be vertically-movable therewith. "he lever is also actuated independently of the carriage by connections hereinafter described. The bottom of the member is constituted by annular recessed portion 51 within which is rotatably supported an annulus 52, Preferably antifriction balls or rollers 53 are interposed between the annulus 52 and a bearing ring 5% within the recessed portion. Depending from the an nulus 52 are two diametricallyopposite ver tical rods 55 which extend through the slots 42 of the disk and are slidably fitted to vertical perforations in the brackets 45 on the underside of the disk. Springs 56, encircling the rods and bearing at their respective ends against the brackets 45 and shoulders 57 on the rods, tend to maintain the rods in a normally raised position in respect to the disk, and hence when the member 48 is vertically reciprocated, relatively to the shaft 35, the rods are depressed against the force of the springs or are permitted to resume their normal condition.

When the spinning mechanism, as I have termed it, is in raised position the member 48 and its depending rods 55 are depressed, the lower extremities of the latter thus extending in proximity to the inner sides of the levers, adjacent the spinning rollers, and thus serving as stops to prevent the throw of the levers during their rapid rotation. In such case the levers are in vertical position and their rollers are spaced sufliciently apart to clear the underlying cap when the mechanism is lowered into operative relation to the depending flange of the cap. hen the mechanism is thus positioned, the mem ber 4-8 is raised in a manner to remove the rods from the path of the levers d3 and thus permit the pivotal movement of such levers and their rollers by the centrifugal force resulting from the rotation of the disk.

The preferred means for operating and controlling the spinning mechanism is as follows: Mounted in bearings formed in the pedestal below the drive shaft 12, is a shaft 58 having loose thereon a spur wheel 59 in mesh with a pinion 60 fast on the drive shaft. The hub of the spur Wheel is provided with clutch lugs 61 with which are adapted to be engaged and disengaged at predetern'iined intervals the lugs 62 of a clutch sleeve 63 which is slidably splined on the shaft 5 The sleeve is connected to the forked end of the upstanding arm 64 of a bell-crank lever which is fulcrumed on a suit-ably located bearing arm 65 on the rear of the pedestal. The other arm 6 of the crank lever is connected by means of a link 67 with a foot lever 68 which is held normally raised by means of a retracting spring 69connccted thereto and to the forward arm 20 of the pedestal. Vhen the foot lever is in its raised position the lugs of the clutchmember 63 are disengaged from the lugs of the spur wheel, and hence such wheel is turningddly on its shaft 58. l Vhen, however, the foot lever is forcibly depressed the clutch-member 63 is engaged with the spur ill) wheel and the latter together with its shaft is positively rotated from the drive shaft 12.

On the forward end of the shaft 58 is a crank disk 70 which is connected by means of a link 71 with a vertical rod 72 that extends freely through the body of the carriage. The upper end of the rod is flexibly connected by means of a chain 73 to a counter-weight 74 that is longitudinally movable within the upper part of the hollow pedestal, such chain being flexed about a pulley 75 mounted in a standard 76 rising from the pedestal.

Encircling the rod 72,- above the carriage, is a spring 77 the respective ends of which bear against the carriage and a stop 78 on the rod. This stop preferably comprises anut or nuts screwed on the rod.

The connection between the lower end of the rod and the link 71, includes a coupling member 79 which provides a stop shoulder immediately beneath the body of the carriage. Such member is laterally slotted to receive a pair of studs or rolls 49 on the rearward end of the yoke-lever 49 hereinbefore referred to.

The co-operative relation of the parts above-described is such that when a vessel provided with a flanged cap, as 22, is properly positioned on the table 17 and the spur wheel 59 is clutched to the shaft 58, the rtating crank disk on the latter pulls down the link 71 and the rod 72; the carriage and its appurtenances thus descending until the clamping head 23 bears upon the top of the cap, at which stage the spin ning rollers 47 are laterally adjacent the depending portion of the cap. Thereupon in the continued descent of the link and rod the coupling member 48 is pulled away from the carriage and the spring 77 is thus depressed by the stop 78 in a manner to exert yielding pressure upon the carriage and maintain the head clamped against the top of the cap. coincidentally the inner portion of the lever 49 is pulled down by its connection with the coupling 79, thereby raising the member 48 and permitting the rods to rise from the path of the lower arms of the levers 43. Hence the upper arms of the rotating levers 43 are swung outward by centrifugal force and the spinning rollers are caused to roll forcibly a ainst the depending portion of the cap as previously explained.

When the crank actuated link 71, in its initial upward stroke, passes the center the arm of the lever 49 is raised in a manner to depress the member 48 and its rods 55, which latter thus bear against the opposing lower arms of the levers and swing such arms and their rollers outward from the cap. Then as the upward stroke of the link continues the coupling 79 bears against the carriage and. bodl y raises 1t, together wlth its appurtenances, to the elevated position; the counterweight 74 contributing to the lifting of the carriage, &c. At this stage the foot lever 68 is raised and the spur wheel 59 is thus unclutched from its shaft 58. The elevated spinning mechanism is now idly rotating; the jar with its rimmed cap can be readily removed from the table, and another jar with a new cap can then be placed on the table preparatory to a repetition of the rimming operation above described.

As a simple and efficient means whereby the clutch member 63 is automatically retained in clutching relation to the spur wheel for a sufficient period of time to effect the lowering and raising of the head and its appurtenances in the operation of rimming a cap, I preferably provide the following mechanism: 7

Supported in a vertical bearing 80 on the pedestal, adjacent the forward arm 66 of the crank-lever, is a vertical pivot stud 81 to the lower end of which is secured a crankarm 82 having at its free end an adjustable screw stop 83, which is so disposed in relation to the arm 66 that when the foot lever is depressed to clutch the spur wheel 59 to the shaft 58, the arm 82 can be swung outward to cause its stop to overhang the arm 66 and thus maintain the latter in down or clutching position against the action of the spring 69. Fast on the stud 81 is an arm 84 bearing a roll 85 which is maintained in operative contact with the periphery of the crank-disk 70 by means of a spring 86 secured to pins extending from the pedestal and stud 81, respectively. The periphery of the disk is provided with a. cam projection 87 which is so formed and disposed as to force the arm 84 outward against the stress of the spring 86 as the link 71 approaches the end of and completes its upward stroke, and which projection thereafter in the initial downward stroke of the link permits the arm to swing inward toward and against the concentric peripheral portion of the disk.- Hence when the carriage and its appurtenances are in the extreme upward position and the spur wheel 59 is unclutched from its shaft 58, the roll 85 is on the apex of the cam projection and the stop 83 is, therefore, out of the path of the crank-lever arm 66. lVhen, however, the foot lever is depressed and the spur wheel is clutched to its shaft, the crankdisk 70 in its initial rotation permits the arms 84, 82 to swing inward and outward respectively; the stop 83 on the arm 82 thus overhanging the crank-lever arm 66 and locking it in down or clutching position against the force of the foot lever spring 69. As the crank-disk approaches and completes the end of its rotation the arm 84 is actuated to withdraw the stop 83 from the lever arm 66, thereby aermitting the spring 69 to raise the iootlever and effect the antomatic unclutching of the spur Wheel from the shaft 58 as previously described.

It is to be understood that I do not limit my invention to the specific construction herein disclosed, as the mechanism may be variously modified within the principle of my invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I clainie- 1. The combination of a support for a vessel havin a cap to be rimmed, and spinning mechanism overhanging the support, said mechanism comprisin rotatable element, a bearing structure for said element, means for rotating said element, oscillatory supporting members mounted on and operable by centrifugal force during the rotation of said element, spinners carried by said members, means for lowering and raising said element to position the spinners lateral- 1y adjacent and above the cap of the vessel, respectively, vertically-movable rods mounted on said element adjacent the respective members, and operative to counteract the centrifugal force of the latter, and means for shifting the said rods to effect the release or" the said members When the members are in down position and the spinners located laterally adjacent the cap.

2-. The combination of a rotatable element, a bearing structure there'l' r, means for rotating said element, oscillatory levers carried by said element, said levers having weighted upper arms, spinners on the lower arms of the levers, vertically-movable lever controlling rods adjacent the respective menses levers, and means for moving said rods into close relation to the spinners to counteract the centrifugal force of the said levers.

3'. The combination of a rotatable element, abearing structure therefor, means for rotating, said element, oscillatory levers carried by said element, said levers having weighted upper arms, spinning rollers on the lower arms of the levers, spring-supported rods mounted on said element adjacent the respective levers, a slide-member on said element having a rotatable connection with the upper ends of said rods, and means for moving said member to position the rods adjacent the respective rollers.

4. The combination of a support for a vessel having a cap to be rimmed, and spinning mechanism overhanging said support, said mechanism comprising a rotatable element, means for rotating said element, a carriage in which said element is mounted, oscillatory levers carried by said element, said levers having weighted upper arms, spinning rollers on the lower arms of the levers, spring-supported rods mounted on said element adjacent the respective levers and having their lower ends in proximity to the rollers, a slide member on said element having a rotatable connection with the upper ends of said rods, means for moving said carriage toward and from the vessel support,

and connections between said last-named means and the slide member.

Signed Brooklyn in the county of Kings and State of New York this 16 day of July A. D. 1921.

ADOLPH POTDEVIN. 

